Supreme Court Lifts Party Spending Caps: What It Means for 2026

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-3 ruling that removes long-standing limits on how much national political parties can spend in coordination with their candidates. The decision in National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission (No. 24-621) strikes down provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act that had capped “coordinated party expenditures.”

How this classic cartoon fits the story (credit: J. Keppler, Puck Magazine — historical/public domain political illustration): The image above is a Gilded Age political cartoon showing wealthy monopolies and big business interests literally overwhelming the U.S. Senate. It perfectly captures the long-running fear that unlimited money from powerful donors can distort democracy and turn elected officials into conduits for special interests. The current U.S. Supreme Court ruling loosens coordinated spending rules between parties and candidates—critics argue this could amplify similar dynamics in 2026 by making it easier for large donors to route influence through party committees, while supporters see it as restoring parties' free speech rights against overly restrictive rules.

George Kamel: Trump's Plan to Abolish the IRS (What This Means for Your Money)

 

[VIDEO] I know this has been discussed and have little issue with the idea of abolishing the IRS. However, what does doing this entail? Does this mean prices go up for the essential goods (say the staples in your kitchen for example)?

Realistically without a solid plan this may or may not happen. At the same time I can't conceive of any issues with no more filing taxes and keeping more of my income.

Glenn Beck: Why Trump Must Audit Fort Knox’s Gold Reserves Now!

 

[VIDEO] What's the real state of the United States' gold reserves at Fort Knox? And then I have more questions.

Such as why are we holding so much gold there?

Could we get $5K checks from Federal Gov't thanks to D.O.G.E.?

 When I saw this post from IG, I was all for it.

The 16th Amendment

 Every once in a while you would hear about President Donald Trump talking about eliminating the income tax. He could start with the 16th amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

What Trump has been talking about is eliminating or cutting taxes on overtime and on tips. As far as tips there has been movement in Chicago at least to eliminate tips. Tips is of course for workers such as servers or bartenders to make some extra income.

Either way, who knows if Trump is serious about eliminating the 16th Amendment. Amending the constitution seems like a long and difficult process anyway.

At least the repeal prohibition amendment (18th Amendment) wasn't exactly an unpopular deal during the Great Depression. How much support would repealing the 16th Amendment receive?

Also, I'm all for Trump and Elon Musk's D.O.G.E. having a look at what goes on with the Internal Revenue Service.

Also, it came out the President wants the U.S. Treasury to cease production of the penny. This was something that was mentioned last month. It cost more to produce a 1¢ coin and I'm for it, now does this mean that prices will be rounded to the nearest nickel. If that's the case I'm for it!

I just hope prices for goods and services doesn't increase as a result.

Is gold and silver a bad investment?

 

[VIDEO] And this is a question I hope Dave Ramsey had actually discussed. Is it a bad idea, Ramsey would say yes. 

If you ask me, precious metals are a better investment than bitcoin. However as you can physically possess gold and silver, like bitcoin which is Ramsey's point there is no guarantee that it can't be taken from you in some way.

So you don't have to take investment advice from me. And perhaps you don't have to take investment advice from Ramsey. You can continue to follow Dave Ramsey for insuring that you still have money in your bank account. If you hate credit cards which is more debt, then listen to him for paying them off and eventually cutting them up.

Ben Shapiro explains failure of SVB

 

[VIDEO] If Dave Ramsey wasn't that clear about what happened other than trying to state that what happened to Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank isn't likely to happen at a bank near you. I think there were some points in this discussion without bringing up politics or the culture war about where these banks went wrong. There were some mismanagement and perhaps the expectation that the Federal gov't will swoop in and save the day. So perhaps mismanagement because Uncle Sam got you! 

Dave Ramsey on the collapse of SVB

 

[VIDEO] I haven't read too much on this particular issue. What I know about this is that the mgmt at Silicon Valley Bank seemed to have done a bad job of insuring they had enough money on hand to stay afloat. They also put a lot of money into investments that don't mature until years later, which also means well they still don't have enough money on hand for lending and deposits.

Of course if you follow Tucker or Glenn Beck they make this about the economy under Joe Biden. They make this about the wokeness that pervades the work culture at these banks. And of course back to the starting point that I made, the bank was mismanaged especially the money was mismanaged.

I think Dave Ramsey calls it down the middle. If you're worried about the banking system don't worry about it. It wasn't just Silicon Valley that failed it's also Signature Bank. He mainly puts the crisis in terms of both of these banks that what allowed them to collapse and be taken over by the Federal Gov't isn't very pervasive in other banks such as Chase. According to him so far the public still has faith in Chase and hopefully other banks. 

Also I understand both of those banks I mentioned that failed mostly catered to tech industry startups. Alas another contribution to these failures may have been the cyclical nature of the tech industry. It seems solid but let's not forget they're prone to layoff and downturns also.

Tim Pool: Twitter set to ACCEPT Elon Musk offer

 

[VIDEO] Elon Musk to me is not a committed right winger, however, the idea of free speech for a well known social media platform which has the ability to set the news cycle is too much for some. Pool also notes that the "blue check journos" that is those who are marked as verified on Twitter are freaking out.

Well there is a school of thought that Twitter needs more moderation not less, problem is well what are they moderating? How as they moderating? The charge made against Twitter is that they tend to moderate things they don't want to see for example in my case they created an excuse to prevent me from sharing a link.

Anyway here's an article to read from Dateline:

Twitter and Elon Musk are said to be close to clinching a sale of the social media giant to Elon Musk after the Tesla CEO came through with finanancing late last week.

According to media reports, Intense meetings over the weekend could lead to a deal being announced as early as this week — even today. The Twitter board had initially backed away from the surprise bid amid doubt around Musk’s financing and likely concerns about about his stewardship of the platform, which he wants to be much freer of content moderation and allowed to function as an entirely open, “public square.”

Musk made his $54.20-a-share cash offer to Twitter on April 13 after amassing a stake of 9.1% of the company and first toying with then scrapping the idea of joining its board. In response, Twitter said it was considering the offer but quickly adopted a poison pill, or shareholders rights plan, that would make a hostile takeover more difficult.

Musk then announced he’d assembled financial commitments worth $46.5 billion to buy the company and said he was considering a tender offer – or going over management’s head to make his bid directly to shareholders.”

The financing includes commitments from Morgan Stanley and other financial institutions for, respectively, $13 billion and $12.5 billion. An equity commitment from Musk himself would cover the amounts not funded by those two, currently expected to be approximately $21 billion.

Question: What changes are in store for Twitter once Musk finally buys the company and take it private? Will Trump's account be restored making that site more relevant again?

Mark Dice talks about Elon Musk and Twitter

 

[VIDEO] He asks in the title of his latest video. Will it actually happen? We'll see.

Since news broke yesterday that he's making a play to buy all of Twitter, we also hear that Vanguard has become the largest shareholder in the social network. So let's se how that works out.

Happy Good Friday.

CNBC: Twitter shares close up 27% after Elon Musk takes 9% stake in social media company

 This was the breaking news for today Elon Musk known for sending his own private rockets into space and his own electric automotive company has become the largest shareholder in the social media site Twitter. I wonder what this means in the long run. For example will Twitter become more committed to free speech principles.

CNBC:

Outspoken Tesla CEO Elon Musk purchased a giant stake in Twitter that makes him the largest outside shareholder in the social media stock, not long after criticizing the company for what he said was its failure to uphold the tenets of free speech.

Musk owns 73,486,938 shares of Twitter, which represents a 9.2% passive stake in the company, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission 13G filing released Monday. The stake is worth $2.89 billion, based Twitter’s closing price Friday.

The purchase comes less than two weeks after Musk criticized the company, polling people on Twitter about whether it adheres to free speech principles. “Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy,” Musk tweeted. “What should be done?”

Late last month, Musk also said he was considering building a new social media platform.

Also:

While it is classified as a passive stake, investors were bidding shares higher on the chance this could lead to something more. Twitter stock surged more than 27%.

“Musk could try to take a more aggressive stance here on Twitter,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said Monday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “This eventually could lead to some sort of buyout.”

“This makes sense given what Musk has at least been talking about, at least from a social media perspective,” Ives said.

Want to see the conservative side of this news check out Instapundit. The wokies might not like Mr. Musk although I don't characterize him as a committed conservative. However, after hearing about censorship on social media - even going through my own relatively minor episode at the end of 2020 - there needs to be a shakeup in that space. 

New social media like President Trump's Truth Social is a great start for example. However, who holds the most attention a site like Twitter can that place be redeemed to be a great place for a great flow of new ideas.

Mises Institute: Some successful Jacksonian reforms

 

[VIDEO] Andrew Jackson was our 7th POTUS from 1829 to 1837. Unfortunately he is known for his treatment of indigenous Americans as they sought to preserve their land claims in the southeast and in spite of a SCOTUS ruling forced them to settle further west.

One accomplishment of his administration is that he paid off the national debt of that time. Or perhaps more accurately as you learn in this discussion from Mises Institute he sets America on course to pay their national debt. He had successors such as James K. Polk who continued some of his policies.

Aside from the indigenous question the discussion turns to how did Jackson do with spending. Part of the national debt is spending and near the end of Jackson's presidency they didn't entirely control gov't spending. While America was on it's way to paying off its debt, they still hadn't tamped down spending.

BLM tax trouble

 

[VIDEO] Video via FOX Business it seems the BLM Global foundation has ran afoul of authorities in California and Washington state of all places and has been barred from even accepting donations for the time being. And even the feds, think IRS are looking into this. Let's say the time of this pandemic has been something of a boon for them especially after the death of one George Floyd. Another significant thing that happened with them is the scrutiny of Patrice Cullors who left BLM not long after her own finances came under scrutiny.

Reason: How Biden's agenda is causing inflation

 

[VIDEO] This video was published before the new year. This is for those of you concerned about the rising costs of food & fuel especially. Build Back Better indeed! 

Boyce Watkins: Putting money in a bank will hurt you?

 

[VIDEO] Watkins tends to go on and on, however, what if he's right when he says ultimately that banks will become obsolete. In what way? Well I'm finding out how banks will only give you so much for your money. 

So hopefully many of you have money in an interest-bearing account and we're in an environment of high inflation. I've been looking at interest rates for such accounts checking or savings and I realize I'm not getting a decent return. So one thing that Watkins would suggest is for example use some of your savings not all of course and that's my advice and put it into the stock market to start.

When you think about it the bank is doing roughly the same thing. With your money that you put into an account they're using that money to lend. That's capital for them and in an inflation environment I would think that if interest rates aren't great and probably not the best return.

#HappyThanksgiving

 

[VIDEO] I'm a fan of Dave Ramsey and while I haven't gone full in on his baby steps I do follow him on ig and definitely enjoy watching his clips on YouTube. And on this Thanksgiving morning I see him talk with Ben Shapiro discussing personal finance, current state of the US economy, and steps to take to become a millionaire.

My own personal message, I hope you're thankful today. Don't let the thieves of joy who reside on the left take away your blessings. As long as you're still alive and healthy you can change your own life for the better.

Yes in life there are things you can't control, however, in life you can control you. As long as you can control you if there is something you're not happy about then you can do something about it. As of late, that's what I'm trying to do.

As Ramsey advocates if you take control of your finances then you can have money in the bank. Which is what I hope for you in the future.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Dave Ramsey: Biden wants to do THIS w/ your bank account

 

[VIDEO] "Let's go Brandon!"

You may have heard about this recently, the Biden/Harris administration wants to  monitors transactions over $600 into bank accounts. USA Today fact checked this.

While the claim is based in reality, it gets many of the facts wrong. The claim’s assertion is a proposal by the Biden administration, not a decision set in stone. The Treasury cannot “declare” any changes to law, as that is a legislative power that belongs to Congress. And even if the proposal is adopted banks would not provide access to individual transactions, just the total amount flowing in and out of an account annually.
...
A May document from the Department of the Treasury outlines a number of the Biden administration’s revenue proposals for the 2022 fiscal year. The proposal referred to in the claim suggests introducing more comprehensive financial account reporting to “improve tax compliance.”

The latest IRS estimates show a tax gap of $166 billion per year between the tax owed by businesses (not counting large corporations) and the tax actually paid. The document says requiring comprehensive reporting on money flowing in and out of accounts "will enhance the effectiveness of IRS enforcement measures and encourage voluntary compliance."

To achieve that, the Treasury proposed requiring financial institutions to annually report the total amount of money that went in and out of bank, loan and investment accounts if those accounts hold a value of at least $600, or if the total is at least $600 in a year.

That means that if the total debits (funds flowing out of the account) and credits (funds flowing into the account) equal at least $600 — including deposited paychecks or money transferred from finance apps like Cash App or PayPal — banks would have to report those figures to the IRS.

However, the banks would not report details on individual transactions, like how the money was spent, only the total amount of money flowing in and out of the applicable accounts.

With this said, I'll let you read of this what you will. It's clear Ramsey has an issue with this, however, just bear in mind it's a proposal being floated as he and his co-host Ken Coleman seem to indicate.

Ramsey is a good source for advice on personal finance - among others - I'll just leave it here and let you all decide what to make of this info. 

Having that information will help the IRS flag under-reported income and target enforcement activities on tax evaders, the Treasury said.

Yankee Stacking: Silver dealer weighs in on Afghanistan

 

[VIDEO] I've been watching a lot of videos on collecting gold and silver lately. There is a lot of discussion on finance of course with precious metal stacking it's usually a matter of investments. How much will your money be worth if you keep it in a savings account when we might run into huge issues of inflation as is an ongoing concern under a Biden/Harris administration.

Of course another aspect of finance as discussed in this recent video by Yankee Stacking talking with his silver dealer about world events. Will the U.S. $ remain the world's reserve currency - that is other central banks hold our dollars in reserve? Of course with the embarrassment of Afghanistan which is ongoing, how much faith does the world have in the American $?

The silver dealer in the video above believes the $'s time as a world reserve currency is through! 

BTW, I wish economics wasn't one my weaker areas of knowledge. :(

Liberal Hivemind on Marxist million dollar real estate purchase

 

[VIDEO] This video specifically talks about the recent news regarding one of the founders of BLM who's using some of the money she made from BLM's global foundation to buy a million dollar house in California. If she had ever said "riots are justified" I'm not listening to her...

Silver had a wild weekend

 

[VIDEO] In this presentation by the YouTube channel Silver Heist they look at the price of silver over the past weekend. This interest in silver is related to the most epic populist revolt ever as attention goes from such stocks as Game Stop to precious metals such as silver. What I'm attempting to figure out is what's the strategy here?

I've heard the interest in silver by the reddit group WallStreetBets is only serving to pad the pockets of the hedge funds they want to push back against. So still I got some digging to do on this.